Try building down

Thank you, Council Member Linda Rouches, for taking time to walk the neighborhood of the proposed condominium above Cascade Commons before making your decision on whether the proposal would be a positive addition there. And for your wise and compassionate words during the public hearing. Staff reports often cannot address some of the more significant impacts of building proposals such as the curtailment of a neighbor's sweeping view by blank walls.

Such indeed is one of the most punishing aspects of prison living: the elimination of one's ability to see the outer world.

The homes along Sherman Avenue have been there a good while, and the people living in them have undertaken the expense of many embellishments to these properties in order to "frame" their view of the Columbia River and Mt. Adams. That the developers of the proposed condominium would callously ignore/discredit the legitimate concerns of these people is an indicator of the kind of neighbor they wish to be. Such attitudes may be acceptable in Portland. I would hope this community would see them for what they are: selfish and opportunistic. The developers might consider going "down" rather than "up" in their attempt to maximize their profit.

Perhaps some new residents to the structure they propose may not mind living within the constraints of blank walls.